Seven Years
by shabam
Summary: Sequel to “Time to Fly (Friends Forever)”. Lily and James haven’t seen each other for seven years. A school reunion rekindles their friendship, but how far will friendship go? (written pre-OOTP) NEW CHAPTER UP - 10!
1. Letters

**_Summary: _**_Sequel to "Time to Fly (Friends Forever)". Lily and James haven't seen each other for seven years. A school reunion rekindles their friendship, but how far will friendship go? _

**_Disclaimer: _**_Basically, anything you don't recognize is mine. The rest is JK's._

**_Author's Note: _**_Y'all wanted a sequel, so here 'tis! This story was partially inspired by the Bumbling Firefly's _Five Year Reunions Suck--or do They? _Go read it after you read this. PG-13 for some possible later stuff._

****

**Seven Years**

by Lady Wildcat

"You look just like your father." Mrs. Luci Potter, squat, hair graying, more than a foot shorter than her son, tugged at his jacket lapels. "All you Potters look alike."

James rolled his eyes and stood still on the snowy doorstep, letting his mother fuss. "Yes, Mum. I know that I look like Dad. You tell me that every year."

"I mean it this time. Your father looked just like you right now, up to the day he died. You Potters never age beyond twenty-five." She shoved a brown bag into her son's hands and gave a last tug at his jacket. "Those are jelly cookies for you, dear. And you need a new coat, this one's worn to threads. Do you want to borrow money? Your father left too much for an old lady like me."

"No, Mum! I'm an adult now, remember? I need to earn my own way." James peeked into the bag and grimaced. "Really, I don't need these cookies--"

"Too bad." Luci's voice lost its grandmotherly tone and became one of authority, a result of being a military child and later a single mother in a large house full of servants. "Now that I'm without all of those servants I need to learn to cook."

"Please, Mum, take the cookies...even my neighbor's dog won't eat them..."

"No. I baked too many and no one else will take them. When you get yourself married you won't have to take my cookies."

"Mu-um, I don't even have a girlfriend." His mother could be so embarrassing sometimes.

"The right girl will fall for you. Heaven knows I did for your father. You need to learn to pay attention, that's all." 

James sighed, then leaned down from his six-foot-two height to kiss his mother's cheek. "Bye."

"Bye, James." His mother shut the door of her comfortable town house, and James set off down the sidewalk.

_Maybe she's right, _he thought, long legs striding past the shops of London. _Maybe I should get a girlfriend. The job's been so busy, though...one more promotion before I'm a real Auror. _

Half an hour later James, shivering from the cold, burst into the boardinghouse in a whirl of fluffy snow. He stomped his boots several times on the carpet Mrs. Paxton had set out and trudged upstairs. On the second floor he met his landlady. "'Lo, Mrs. P."

"Hello, James. Oh, you got an owl--it's in your room."

"Thanks." James squeezed past Mrs. Paxton's bulk and took out his keys. Fumbling with the lock for a moment, he entered Apartment 7. James tossed his coat and the cookies down on the sagging couch, kicked the door closed, and ran over to the kitchen table where a familiar shape was sitting.

"Ah, thanks Mitz." The barn owl hooted as James took the letter off her leg, then cocked her head at him. 

"Yeah, there's a reply. Here, sit with Ed." James set Mitzy down next to his horned owl Eddie and flopped on the couch (breaking a few rusted springs) to read Lily's letter.

_Hey Jamesie,_

_Brr! January at Hogwarts is the prettiest time of year, even if it is WAY too cold. My delicate redheadedness demands heat. All the kids make fun of me because I'm wearing about five layers around all day. Nasty little buggers. Nick set another Dungbomb off in class today. I took your advice and confiscated all his Filibusters (yeah, I searched his bag. They all WERE in the quill case. How'd you know...wait, stupid question). I'm beginning to LOVE pop quizzes--yes, I know I'm evil. My students tell me all the time. Funny, a DADA prof being evil._

_So, enough about me. How's your little Ministry job? What are you again, a Junior Executive Manager for the Auror Department? Ack, I can never keep your job names straight. I still don't know what the hell it means--although I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that raise._

_Did you know--our SEVENTH REUNION is coming up! Wow, we haven't seen each other for seven years! Why do they stress the seventh one so much anyway? I mean, for the others, I just got some crappy little invitation, but for this one Dumbledore himself spoke to me. Seems like we have to make a speech and all, written together. Well, that's an aspect that wasn't on the Head Girl résumé: making a speech seven years later! My public speaking skills have improved with teaching, though. How are yours? I will kill you if you mess up the brilliantly written speech we will write._

_ I'm going to be there, and you BETTER be there. I need to see how different you look. Last time I saw you, you were pimply. Tee hee, not too pimply though. You were actually quite dashing for seventeen. Now, Snape had pimples. Gag, can you believe that at the age of twenty-four the man still has acne problems? Unbelievable. It's like he never heard of SHAMPOO._

_Well, I'll see you around. Oh, by the way, thanks for the Christmas present! Wow, it was so pretty..._

_Love,_

_Lily_

James smiled and dug some parchment and a quill out of the couch pillows. He squinted at Lily's letter, switched on the dilapidated lamp, and wrote. Finishing his letter--which was splattered with several interesting ink shapes, a result of writing lying down--he tied it to Eddie's leg and launched him out of the window. He watched his owl soar over the snow-capped roofs of London, then sighed and closed the window.

* * *

"Nick," Lily sighed at her unruly student, "please give me that Dungbomb."

The small third year scowled. "Yes, Professor Evans." He held out the small, manure-colored blob.

Fortunately, Lily saw the Electric Handshake buzzer as well. "I'll take that, too," she said, touching the almost invisible red switch that turned the buzzer off. She flipped the small metal device up and caught it neatly in her hand. Nick, scowling all the more that his prank didn't work, trudged back to his seat.

"And now, let's get back to boggarts." Lily put her hands behind her back and began to walk slowly across the width of the classroom. She liked to do this while teaching; over her brief year as sub Charms professor and six years as DADA teacher it had become known as the "Evans Ramble". "Boggarts live in small, enclosed places. They turn into your worst fear. Nick, put that down."

"Aaw," Nick said, laying down the sugar quill. "Professor--how'd you know? It works on all the other teachers."

"I'm not stupid," Lily said wryly. "I didn't spend seven years in the same class as James and Sirius before learning a few tricks."

Suddenly all eyes were on her. "_James _and _Sirius_?" The voice was Kellie's, one of Nick's cronies. Her normally mischievous gray eyes were shining with respect and awe. "You _knew _James Potter and Sirius Black? The ones who set the detention record?"

"Yeah. We used to..." Lily, seeing the eager faces turned towards her, all attention focused, sighed. Anecdotes would take up the rest of the lesson. "Well, those days are over now."

A chorus of moans resounded from the class. "Aww, come on, Professor!" "Yeah, tell us!" "Please?" "Please?"

Lily sighed yet again. Puppy faces were her one weak point. She glanced at the clock; the lesson was almost over anyway.

"All right, we'll stop for today and I'll tell you about James and Sirius." Cheers arose, and Lily tapped the blackboard with her wand, clearing it. "Why do you guys want to hear about them anyway?"

"They're the _best_," said Nick. "They broke 97% of the school rules, and snuck out at night at least every week, and once they conjured up a sombrero and made Snape wear it for a month!"

"_Professor _Snape," Lily corrected automatically, smiling inside. She remembered the sombrero. "I can't probably tell you more than you know. James and Sirius were in my House and my classes. I was pals with Sirius and really good friends with James. In fact, we even..."

All of Lily's students, watching her like a hawk, noticed her pause and the hand fly up to the necklace she wore. She twiddled with the charm, a simple Celtic knot engraved on a small silver square, and took a few breaths. Then, in a slightly normal tone, she continued. "We even dated for a year, then we broke up."

"What happened?" Kellie asked.

Lily swallowed. "Well..."

Just then, the clock chimed the hour. "I'll see you guys soon, goodbye." Lily gathered her bag and books, walking out of the room. Third year Gryffindors were her last class on Tuesdays, and she had a whole hour to herself before dinner.

She headed up the stairs that led to the faculty dorms. Coming to the portrait of Headmaster Griggs, she greeted the white-haired man who had died several centuries before. "Hello, Griggs. Tumblebumpkin."

"Ah, hello Lily," said Griggs, smiling as his frame swung forward. "Tired?"

"You have no idea." Lily climbed through the portrait hole into the faculty common room. No one was here; she had the whole dorm to herself for this hour on Tuesdays. Heading down the womens' wing, she turned into her room, number five. Number five was furnished in a simplistic country style, with whitewashed walls, light yellow curtains, linen drapes on the bedframe, a homemade quilt. It was Lily's favorite room in the castle: the heavy medieval air of Hogwarts was not her taste.

She bustled over to the hot plate on the counter and set about to boiling water for tea. She liked to eat alone sometimes, away from the noise of the Great Hall, and had saved to purchase a small fridge, sink, and hot plate.

A tapping at the window alerted Lily away from her tea. It was Eddie, carrying a letter. Smiling, Lily opened the window and took the letter. "Thanks, Ed." The owl flew to Mitzy's empty cage and began to drink the water. Lily rolled her eyes. "Sure, make yourself at home." Seating herself on the large blue paisley armchair, Lily grabbed her tea and set about to reading James' letter.

_Dear Lily,_

_Seven years?!?? Seven YEARS?!?? Wow, it doesn't feel like seven! Don't worry, I will be at the reunion. Actually, I'm rather curious as to how Hogwarts has changed over the years, so I'm coming on May 22nd. That's, let's see, fourteen days before the reunion, so we'll get two weeks to catch up before all the other people come. Don't worry, Dumbledore has okayed this--he says that I can stay in an extra faculty room. I'm going to attend your classes, okay? Please? I'll sit in the back and not make any noise, I promise. Dumbledore and I just assumed you'd be my guide, but I know how much you hate assumptions so I'm asking you now. Please be my guide? Pleasepleaseplease? It'll be really fun! Plus, we'll have some time to write that speech. I'm afraid my public speaking skills are shameful. I shake and stutter when I have to read something prepared in front of a crowd. Maybe you can coach me._

_I think the reason they stress the seventh is because of seven years at Hogwarts. Seven years later, celebrating the seven years? You know? Just a guess. We could ask Dumbledore._

_I'm looking forward to seeing you again, too. And excuse me, but I was _not _pimply! Maybe a few red spots, but never anything like Snape's. How have you changed? Last time I saw you you were as thin as a stick. There was actually a rumor going around that you were anorexic or bulimic or something._ _Bullshit, I said. That's not the Lily I know._

_Your students sound just like me! What did I tell you about becoming a teacher? You brought this upon yourself, remember...I want to meet that Nick kid when I come! Sounds like me. Pop quizzes--Lil, I'm ashamed of you. Didn't you learn anything in school? Shame, shame, putting those poor children through pop quizzes. Remember how McGonagall gave them to us as a way of keeping me and Sirius under control? _

_I actually got the raise--I am now Junior Manager for the Second Auror Department. Ooh, aah. Basically, I went from being the guy who mopped the floor and took out the trash to the guy who sorts papers and brings everyone coffee. Well, at least I get paid more._

_Glad you liked your present. It seems like a good present for a lovely little Irishwoman. _

_I'll see you soon!_

_Love, _

_James_

_PS. Sorry this is so messy; I'm writing this on the couch, lying down._

Lily smiled. Trust James to forget to use a desk. She leaned close to the paper and breathed deeply, smelling the James smell of light coffee and clean clothes. Her eyes strayed to the word "bullshit", and she laughed. Anorexia! What would the gossips think of next?

Lily headed over to her bookcase and removed a small wooden box, into which she tucked James' letter. She kept all of his letters, and just to reassure herself that she wasn't dependent on him anymore she kept Laura's and Chris' letters as well. _Just keeping my best friends' letters to read for later. It has nothing to do with James and me._ It was a lie, but Lily didn't care.

She paused as she put the box back, and her hand brushed a small leather-bound book. Picking it up, she returned to her armchair and leafed through the pages until she came to James' entry. Lily knew every single word of his graduation note, and her fingers touched the words "time to fly" ever so lightly. Her smile turned into a thoughtful frown. James hadn't mentioned their relationship after the graduation. Was he scared? Did he still feel the same way about her? Did--

_Stop it, Lily, _she told herself sternly. _You are too dependent on this man. You're an adult now._ As she put the yearbook away, however, she couldn't help but steal a last glance at James' letter. Maybe, maybe, when she saw him again, he'd tell her what he really meant.

***

**_Author's Note: _**_See that little blue button? Yes. Press it and review._

_I really didn't mean to make Lily sound like a pathetic loser, it's just the way it came out. She'll get tougher in the next chapters._

_Best,_

_Lady Wildcat_


	2. Why Me, Oh Lord?

**_Summary: _**_Sequel to "Time to Fly (Friends Forever)". Lily and James haven't seen each other for seven years. A school reunion rekindles their friendship, but how far will friendship go? _

**_Disclaimer: _**_Basically, anything you don't recognize is mine. The rest is JK's._

**_Author's Note: _**_OMG, I'm sooo sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up! Gaah! Well, real life called...I got 24 reviews for THE FIRST CHAPTER!! TWENTY-FOUR!! GAAH!! Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers...extended thanks at the bottom! _

_I put in a second category of Humor for this fic cuz it's gonna be pretty funny. (This chapter's kinda funny...more funny lata...) _

_Anyhoo...on with the fic..._

**Seven Years**

Chapter Two

By Lady Wildcat

Lily was tired. Very, very tired. Staying up until two in the morning doesn't really do wonders for one's beauty sleep, and she felt like a zombie as she doggedly climbed the dais to the teacher's table and automatically served herself toast.

_I was an overachiever at school, _she thought bitterly. _I didn't get used to staying up late to do work. _Lily rubbed her eyes, not noticing when Snape shot her an evil glare for almost planting her elbow in his eggs. She had procrastinated on grading her student's essays until the night before she was supposed to hand them back. 

"What day is it, Severus?" she asked groggily, stopping herself from putting jam into her coffee.

He gave her his characteristic glare. "The twenty-second."

"No, no, what day of the week..." Lily stopped, suddenly awake. "Wait--did you say the twenty-second?"

"Yes."

_James comes today! _Lily glanced around nervously, noting that Dumbledore was not at the table. A noise at the front of the Great Hall--she looked up frantically. Dumbledore was standing, shaking the hand of a very tall man with a shock of black hair. 

The headmaster pointed to the high table, and James waved. "Lily!"

Lily stood, waving. Unfortunately, her elbow knocked into her coffee and spilled it all over the front of her robes.

"Aw, _shit!_" Lily yelled, rather louder than necessary. "Ow--ow--why is this so damn _hot_! Ow, ow-ow-ow!"

"Calm down, Lily!" Flitwick leaned over and pointed his wand at her sopping robes and muttered a word. Instantly they were dry and considerably cooler.

"Thank you, Professor," Lily said, trying to collect what remained of her dignity. Head high, she walked across the Hall to James, giggles from students following her.

She reached James, smiled a little shyly, and held out her hand. "Hi, James..."

James grabbed her hand and pulled her into a big bear hug. "None of that, Lily!" He pounded her back so hard that her nose was pushed into his chest.

"Ouch," Lily commented, and James immediately let her go. She grinned. "I had hoped to make you impressed with my impeccable adult conduct. Evidently, I failed."

"Trust Lily to always make a statement," James chuckled. He looked at her up and down. "You look great, Lils. Less skinny, more grown into your clothes, in a good way of course--"

"Shut it, there are children listening." Lily began to meander back to the table, James trailing her. "So, are you ready to sit in on one of my classes? It's an interesting experience, I guarantee."

"I'm ready." Abruptly, James pulled her back into a slightly gentler hug. "Wow, it's so good to _see _you!"

Lily patted him on the back, and he released her. She climbed to the teacher's dais and grabbed her bag from her spot. "Well, breakfast is almost over, so we can meander over to the classroom, sorry if you didn't eat..." Lily stopped. "James?"

He and Snape were apparently having a glaring contest. Seventh year came back to Lily in a flash. She'd forgotten just how much James and Snape despised each other. 

Finally, James broke the ice. "So good to see you, Snape," he said with a tone of voice that meant exactly the opposite.

"A pleasure," Snape sneered back. "What a joy."

"You know, I have a sombrero in my suitcase somewhere..."

The look on Snape's face was enough to heat Hell's furnaces. "You haven't changed at all, Potter. Still the same idiotic prat you were seven years ago."

Lily decided to separate them before they killed each other. Grabbing James' arm she steered him away. "Come ON, James..."

"That greasy little..." James muttered, still looking with hatred towards the table as he walked. 

"You can say the word 'greasy' again. Other than that, I'm sure Dumbledore will make no exception if you murder Snape." 

James sighed, smiled, and gently wrenched his arm out of Lily's grasp. "Right as always, Lil." 

"So, where are your clothes and stuff?" Lily asked, motioning towards the small leather suitcase James carried. "I'm assuming they're not all in there."

"Huh?" He looked puzzled. "Of course they're all in here. I'm only staying for two weeks."

"What?"

"Lily, are you deaf? This...is...all...I...brought."

"But--I usually have two or three bags when I leave for two weeks..."

"Girls overpack. I've noticed that."

"Or you could say guys _underpack._" Lily pushed the classroom door open. "How can you live for two weeks off of one suitcase?"

"Well, I do." James followed Lily into the class.

The third years, who had been talking, quieted as soon as Lily came in. Some of them stared warily at James, and a few whispers of "Who is that?" were heard.

"These are the Gryffindor third years," Lily told James. "Class, this is Mr. James Potter. He is on a special visit for the rest of the year."

The class was silent. Most of them had their mouths wide open. 

James grinned and waved. Lily went on. "James is an Auror, and I hope that during his visit he can give us a talk. Right now, he's just going to just sit in the class. Hmm--" She spied Nick sitting in his usual back corner seat. "Nick--please move up here to the front to give Mr. Potter your chair."

Normally a request like this would have set up groaning and mumbling and sulky voices. Nick, however, looked rather honored. He blinked and, mouth still slightly open, gathered his books and walked dazedly to the front of the room. James passed him, smiled, and said, "Thanks, Nick."

Nick sputtered. "N-not at all." He sat down at the front muttering, "He said my _name..._" James sat down in the seat next to Kellie, who blushed and was suddenly very busy with her quill.

"Now." Lily passed a stack of packets to Alyssa, keeping one for herself. "Pass those around; they're your notes you'll need for the exam." The class groaned. "Shut it, you'll thank me when you take the exam." She turned around, glanced at the front page of the packet, and wrote "Exam Review" on the chalkboard with her wand. "First order of business--"

A hand shot up. Lily turned; it was James. "James, why in the world is your hand up?"

He grinned. "_I _don't have any exam notes."

"Tough. Do I need to remind you that you're not in my class?"

"But--" his voice took on a whiny tone "Li-_ly_, I need to follow the les-_son_..."

She threw up her hands in despair. "Why me, Oh Lord?" she muttered. James' ability to annoy the hell out of professors had been forgotten--until now. Sighing, she gave her notes to Alyssa. "Pass those back to James." She turned to the blackboard and paused, her wand just touching the surface. "OK, Potter, what's the first heading?"

James looked at his notes. "Tell class how perfectly wonderful James is," he read, eyes a little too bright in his perfectly serious face.

The class erupted into laughter. Lily rolled her eyes, muttered a few epithets in Gibberish, and turned calmly back to the class. "No, James, the real heading."

"Give everyone a day off to play Quidditch."

Cheers arose; Lily gritted her teeth. "Haha, it was funny the first time. The real heading."

"Cancel exams--"

"Potter, unless you want your eyes to suddenly and inexplicably turn inside-out, I suggest you give me that heading!"

James' manner became very meek. Lily always carried out her threats; that was something he'd learned long ago. "Magical Beings, part I," he muttered.

Lily exhaled. "Thank you," she said pointedly. She wrote the heading on the board. "Point A?"  
  


"Distribute Honeydukes' choco--"

"POTTER!!"  
  
"I mean, Werewolves."

The rest of the class was spent in a similar fashion. Lily's head was beginning to throb when the period was over. "Study, study!" she yelled at the backs of her retreating students. Picking up a stack of papers, she stalked over to James and started attacking him with the thick sheaf.

"Oww--ow! Hey! Stoppit!" James tried to protect himself from the pain of corrected essays in large numbers, but Lily was persistent.

"You! You are so bad! Oh, my God! It was funny when I was laughing with you, but it's not when I'm taking that shit from the professor's side!"

"Aah!" James grabbed the papers and stopped the barrage. "I'm sorry, Lil. I was just having some fun. Are you really mad?"

She sighed. "No, no, just annoyed. I don't know how I'm going to survive for the next class."

James sat up. "You mean, I get to do that again?" Almost simultaneously, the first-year Hufflepuffs began filing into the room. He grinned. "I never knew school could be so _fun!_"

Lily sighed. It was going to be a long two weeks.

**_Author's Note: _**_OK, here's where I thank all my cool reviewers!_

_Thanks To: susan (first reviewer! Thanks!), ariana evens (yeah, this is gonna be completed...someday...), soccergirl (GOOD!), Myxie (glad u liked TTF!), Sierra Sitruc (tis BLUE!!), LilyandJames4Life (wow! How many reviews was that? Well, I'm continuing!), AmiAmiNSusu (yesh, I need a few flames to keep me toes toasty ;) ), shayomac (here's the next chappie, hope ya like), Mamasita (gah, here's more! I love your L/J, it's great!), Ariana (thanks! I love your stories, they rock!!), greenie (sry, can't do daily, my life is waaay too full), dandylion345 (hmm, I don't think we're thinking the same thing 'bout the rating, it's PG-13 "just in case"), Coeur de Lion (NOO!! NO TICKLES!!), kisparkles (reunion comin' soon), Satans Little Princess (more for ya girl!), Min Hee Ha(here's what happens next!), aaannd...Peppermint (I LOVE My Best Friend's Girl!!)! YOU ALL ROCK!!  
  
Hehe..._

_Best,_

_Lady Wildcat_


	3. Peach Cobbler

**_Summary: _**_Sequel to "Time to Fly (Friends Forever)". Lily and James haven't seen each other for seven years. A school reunion rekindles their friendship, but how far will friendship go? _

**_Disclaimer: _**_See chapter 1._

**_Author's Note: _**_FIFTY REVIEWS!!! *hyperventilates* Omg, I'm soooo glad you love this!! I'll stop blubbering and give ya the chappie now--_

**Seven Years**

Chapter Three

By Lady Wildcat

"Yum, beef!" James dove enthusiastically into his dinner. "You don't know how good this tastes after seven years of your own cooking."

Lily rubbed her eyes. She looked haggardly over at James, sitting in an added chair at the High Table. "You," she said.

"Yes. Me. Wonderful, wonderful me." He grinned through a mouthful of potatoes.

"You. I can't believe how bad you are!"

"I think you're setting the record for saying a sentence the most in one day."

"Don't blame me! I think it was the green ceiling slime that really sent me over the edge."

He shrugged, a picture of all innocence. "What can I say? The class was falling asleep. They needed a pick-me-up."

"Green slime?"

"Well, everyone woke up."

"Yes, but it was a bit difficult to teach with slime dripping into one's hair."

"Oh, well." James put on a semi-serious face. "I promise I'll be better tomorrow."

Lily looked at him and sighed. It was hard to stay mad at someone that goofy. "Okay."

James nodded, spooned the last of his dessert into his mouth, and stood up impatiently. "There, finished, let's go."

"James!" cried Lily, incredulous. "I've just begun my dinner!"

"Oh." He sat back down. "How long 'til you're finished?"

"I'll be finished when I'm finished!"

"Right, talk gobbledygook at me, why don't you."

Lily rolled her eyes and began eating slowly and deliberately. It was quite disconcerting, having someone watch you eat while you're trying to enjoy your meal. After a few minutes she put down her fork in exasperation. "You don't have to _stare _at me, you know."

James sighed and put his elbow on the table, staring deliberately straight ahead. Soon he faced Lily again. "Dessert's peach cobbler, you know."

Lily glanced at her plate of cobbler. "Yes. I can see that."

"Well, it's _peach_ cobbler."

"And?"

"You're allergic to peaches."

"Thank you for remembering, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"So you can't eat the cobbler."

"So...?"

"Can I have your dessert?"

Lily sighed, but smiled. "Here." She slid the plate over to him.

James ate the cobbler in about five seconds--he _inhaled, _not ate, Lily thought--but by that time Lily was done. She pushed her chair out, patted her mouth with her napkin, and arranged her silverware in a neat X on her plate. She was about to slide the cobbler plate back into it's proper position when a hand grabbed her wrist and tugged her out of her seat. "Good, you're finished, let's go."

"Jaa-aames!" Lily yelled, barely grabbing her bag as she was towed along. "I need time to digest, unlike some people I know!"

James didn't listen. It wasn't till they were outside the Great Hall (with several pairs of eyes following Professor Evans be pulled by Mr. Potter) that Lily was able to slow him down.   
  


"James. Stop." She took several deep breaths, straightened her robes, and took a look at her kidnapper. "You have whipped cream on your cheek."

"I do?" He stuck out his tongue and looked sideways, trying to reach the cream.

Lily shook her head and reached into her immaculately neat bag for her wad of tissue. "Hold still, you great git." She wiped the cream off and chucked the tissue into a nearby dustbin _((A/N: aren't y'all proud of me, using the British term stead of the American one?))_. 

"Aww, whatcha do that for? It was perfectly good whipped cream!"

Lily merely granted him a look of disgust as she climbed the stairs to the faculty dorms. 

Headmaster Griggs greeted them with a smile. "Who's your friend, Lily?"

"Griggs, this is James Potter. James, this is Headmaster Griggs. James will be sleeping in the dorms for a few weeks."

"So you're _that _Mr. Potter. Your room is number four, and your suitcase has been brought up from Lily's classroom." Griggs raised his eyebrows. "According to the Fat Lady, you woke her up countless times when you were in school. I shan't have you doing that to me too much, mind."

"Don't worry, he won't if I have anything to do with it. Primroses." Lily led James through the portrait hole and down the Men's wing. Pushing open Number Four's door, she saw a relatively Spartan room with a canopy bed, a desk, chair, closet, and window. James' battered suitcase sat in the middle of the floor.

"Well, this is it. I'll see you in the morning." Lily turned to go.

"Wait a sec. You're not going to bed _already?_"

"No, I've got papers to grade, _then _I'm going to bed."

"Lily, you're a teacher, you have the privilege of walking the school at night, and you go to your room at six thirty."

Lily shrugged. "Yes, if I don't want to be asleep on my feet tomorrow."

"Well, you're coming with me, and we're going to explore the school."

"_You _grade my papers then."

He laughed. "All right, I'll grade half your papers if you come."

A slow smile spread over Lily's face. "Deal."

"Good, come on then!" James grabbed her wrist--again--and pulled her out of the Men's Wing. Lily dropped her bag onto a chair in the common room as they breezed past. James pushed open the portrait hole and they climbed out.

"Where are you going?" asked Griggs.

"I don't really know!" Lily replied, laughing.

**_Author's Note: _**_Do remember to be good boys and girls and review. And if you like this story, don't be shy, put it on your favorites! g_

_Best,_

_Lady Wildcat_


	4. Mocha Latté and Triple Chocolate

**_Summary: _**_Sequel to "Time to Fly (Friends Forever)". Lily and James haven't seen each other for seven years. A school reunion rekindles their friendship, but how far will friendship go? _

**_Disclaimer: _**_Blah de blah, you know it's all J.K.'s, so why bother putting a stupid disclaimer?_

**_Author's Note: _**_EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! I GOT A NEW COMPUTER!!! AND IT'S A TOTALLY LUVERLY LITTLE INDIGO IBOOK!!! GAAH!!_

_Sorry about that. I'm still syked over this thing!! The reason I got it so fast is that my TOTALLY LUVERLY PARENTS decided that I needed a computer really soon (my four or five books-in-progress are on here, plus all my art scans and coloring programs) and paid for it, and I only need to pay HALF!!! (That's still about $400, but oh well.) I took so long to getting this up because I needed to pay $200 before using it. I got informal odd jobs for my godfather's company (toy company, fuunn) doing research at $4/hour and concept art for $10 a piece, so I was able to pay it off, and I'm BACK IN BUSINESS, BABY!!! I'll still be slow getting the chappies up, but there WILL be a fic!!_

_Speaking of a fic--shut up, self, and on with it!_

**Seven Years**

Chapter Five

By Lady Wildcat

**Dedicated to my Wonderful Parents.**

**NOT Dedicated to the Foot that Stepped on my Tangerine iBook. Baad Foot.**

About thirty minutes later, Lily was still being tugged down the halls. Her arm was starting to hurt when James finally stopped at a statue of a crouching hag. "Hold on," he said, pulling out his wand. He tapped the statue. "Dissendium."

"James--where--are—we..." Lily panted. She stopped as she saw the passage open. "What--"

"Quick, climb in." James squeezed through the gap with surprising agility for such a tall man. He stuck his hand out, and Lily grabbed it and clambered through. 

"Okay, now we walk." He set off at a brisk jog, and Lily followed, trying to keep up with his long strides.

After about fifteen exhausting minutes, Lily stopped. "This--is--hard...rest..."

James turned around, still walking backwards. He was only breathing lightly. Lily remembered how fit James had been in school. She was in good shape, but nothing like James. "Keep goin', Lils. We'll never get there at this pace."

"I need a rest."

"Come on!"

"You want me to move...no way, buddy..." Lily sat stubbornly onto the ground. "You haven't had to deal with _you_ all day..."

James rolled his eyes and walked over. In one motion, he picked Lily up so that she was hanging over his shoulder. He continued to walk down the passage.

"Hey! James!" Lily squirmed. "Put me down!" 

"We'll never get there with you sitting down."

Lily pouted. He was right. She hated when he was right.

After five minutes or so, Lily commented, "Nice shirt."

"Why do you mention it?"

"Well, I've been staring at it for about five minutes."

"Good point," James said thoughtfully. "Nice shoes."

"Thanks. 15% off at Bloomingdales'."

"Huh?"

"Muggle store."

"Oh."

Another five minutes passed. Lily drummed her fingers on James' back.

"Stoppit."

Lily stopped.

Another five minutes.

Lily sighed. "Ever notice how conversation lags when one of you is hanging off the other's shoulder?"

"Well--" James shifted her a bit "--fortunately, we have arrived." He set Lily down.

Lily, legs wobbling from no usage, started to follow James. He, however, spun around, a mischievous grin on his face. "Close your eyes."

"What?"

"Close 'em."

She closed her eyes. James took her hand and tugged her along. She felt herself being tugged into an opening, led across a floor, and guided up the stairs. Lily had absolutely no idea where they were.

"James, can I open my damn eyes already?" she grumbled.

"Hold it--" She was led across more floor. "Okay. Open."

Lily gasped. They were in Honeydukes. The shop was silver in the moonlight, the jars of various candies glinting.

James grinned and spread his arms. "Voilá! Great, no?"

"Wow," Lily whispered. "How did you find this passage?"

"Never mind about that." James' eyes were eagerly lit. "Just look! All the store to ourselves!"

"Oh, no." Lily folded her arms, muffling her excitement with her stern teacher voice. "No, James Potter, you are NOT going to steal any candy."

"Who said I was stealing? We're consumers. We always left money."

"'We'?" 

"You think I could keep something like this from the rest of the guys?" James was already filling one of the huge baskets provided at the counter. 

"I'm surprised you kept it from me." Lily carefully inspected a Dragon Pop before putting it in her smaller basket.

James shrugged. "You'd just fuss and fuss about us getting in trouble and not be able to enjoy it."

"So why'd you show me now?"  
  


"You look like you need a break. Plus, now you won't worry about teachers catching us."

After a few minutes, they emptied their baskets into separate bags. James, after calculating the price, showed Lily the charm he and Sirius had developed to open the cash register and deposit their Knuts and Sickles.

Lily fished about in her pocket for money, put it into the register, and grabbed her bag. "Okay, let's go." She headed for the staircase.

"Wait, you're leaving already?"

"Um, yeah...what else are we supposed to do?"

"Well--" James ran over to the window, opened it, and grinned. "Hogsmeade at night is rather nice."

Lily sighed. "My papers--"

"Okay, if you come, I'll grade three-quarters of 'em."

"Um..." It took Lily a few seconds to decide. "Okay, fine. But only half an hour."

"Half an hour, fine." James climbed through the window and Lily followed.

***

Five hours later, Lily was rather glad that she had come. Hogsmeade _was_ fun at night. There were no crowds, and most of the shop owners didn't consider a kitchen, bathroom, or storage room window a way of entering. Lily had several bruises from the sharp panel of the ice cream shop's kitchen window, but her mocha latté-blueberry nut cone was worth it. And playing Truth or Dare--which she hadn't played for years until now--while walking along the moonlit streets was better than playing it at a slumber party.

Lily crunched a blueberry nut. "Truth or Dare?"

  
"Er...Dare."

"I dare you to go into the Shrieking Shack."

James laughed. "Lily, that's one of the worst dares I've ever heard."

"Why? The Shrieking Shack is haunted."

James shook his head and slurped meditatively on his Triple Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Fudge cone. "It's not."

"What?"  
  
"Remus used to go there when he transformed."

Lily looked down at her ice cream. "Oh," she said softly.

"Yeah, that was what the screaming was," James said bluntly. They were silent for a moment, then James perked up. "My turn!"

"Hey, you didn't do a dare!"

"Oh, well, only one shot. Truth or Dare?"

Lily thought. "Truth?"

"Did you have any other boyfriends?"

They both knew he meant "after me". Lily laughed. "Of course I did! James, I wasn't a total reject!"

"Really? Like who?"

"Most of them are from Hogsmeade. Greg, Eddie, Kevin, Michael, Jeff--although he was more of a summer fling..."

"Okay, okay, you're gonna make me jealous!" James licked up a dribble of chocolate. "So, who's the most recent?"

"Hey, only one question!" 

"We're not playing anymore. We're making conversation. Spill."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Michael was the most recent. We broke up in April."

"Why?"  
  


"Because. We felt like it."

"Do you still see him?"

"James, you sound like my mother!" Lily laughed. "Yes, I do. He's the assistant manager at that restaurant down the street from Zonko's." She crunched the last of her cone. "My turn. Truth or Dare?"

James thought. "Truth." 

"Do...do you ever regret hurting all those girls in school?" Lily asked quietly.

"What girls?"

"Your girlfriends whom you dumped."

"Lily, I always went steady with people. You know that."

"Yes, but..." She gulped and looked at her feet. "The ones you _did _hurt, do..."

"Do I regret hurting you?" His hands went on her shoulders, and Lily looked up. "Yes. I'll regret it for the rest of my life. I hate myself for it."

"Um...thanks..." Hesitantly, Lily wrapped her arms around James. He instantly responded, pulling her into a warm hug. After a while, Lily sniffed and broke the embrace. "Can we go back now? It's kinda late."

"Okay. You're walking this time."

***

She did walk herself, and was very proud of it, even though James needed to slow a little bit. After being waved in by a sleepy and somewhat annoyed Griggs, James walked Lily to her room.

"You're so sweet," Lily said, peeking in her retrieved bag. "No one's walked me to my room in about eight years." She fished out a stack of papers, divided them in two, and gave the considerably larger stack to James. "They're the fifth year essays on the effects of the minor curses, it should be a breeze for you to correct. Make marks in colored ink, I usually use purple..." She offered a purple inkwell.

"Purple? No way," said James.

"What's wrong with purple?"

"Not manly enough." He flexed his arm muscles, making caveman faces. 

Lily laughed resignedly. "Alright, blue then."

James took the ink, and there was a surprisingly awkward pause. "Well," Lily finally said, "g'night...see you tomorrow."

He grinned. "Bright'n early, right."

"Yeah, sure...bright and early."

***

_YAAY!!! FICCIE BACK UP!!! YAAAY!! (Oh, I'm still thinking about the title change.)_

_Adios for now._

_Best,_

_Lady Wildcat_


	5. Detention

**_Summary: _**_Sequel to "Time to Fly (Friends Forever)". Lily and James haven't seen each other for seven years. A school reunion rekindles their friendship, but how far will friendship go? _

**_Disclaimer: _**_Blah de blah, you know it's all J.K.'s, so why bother putting a stupid disclaimer?_

**_Author's Note: _**_Oh God, guys, I am SO sorry about the delay!! School started. It's EVIL this year. Especially Geometry, which I have to work my ass off at to get an A. I'm trying for all A's to get this scholarship thingy...plus I've recently (well, in the past 3 months) become a Lord of the Rings junkie, so most of my time now is spent in Tolkien geekdom...anyway. Back on track. _Roxanne _people, I need to get a copy of Cyrano for the next chappie, so it should be up soon._

_Oh, and two weeks ago today, Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) turned 44! Yay! Happy birthday Viggo!! (Lol, I'm watching him right now, in 28 Days...heh, I'm such a nerd...)_

**Seven Years**

Chapter Six

By Lady Wildcat

_I'd forgotten,_ James thought as he stared up at the ceiling. 

It wasn't exactly the ceiling James was staring at. It was the fabric of his canopy. It was red and embroidered in different colored threads, probably depicting some sort of interesting scene. But although he had been staring at it for the past hour, James hadn't noticed one tiny detail of it. He'd been too busy thinking.

_I'd forgotten, _he thought, _how amazing she is. How wonderfully, beautifully, mind-blowingly amazing. How astoundingly, unbelievably, incredibly amazing. How..._

He laughed at himself. _Listen to yourself, Potter. Going on like a lovesick schoolboy._

Frankly, he didn't care. He ran his hand through his hair and crossed his arms, aware that he was probably grinning like an idiot. However, his grin was endangered the next minute when he remembered the credo of one of Lily's more recent letters.

_You know, James, I am so glad I have you as a friend--even if we have been more like pen-friends recently than real ones. You're one of my best friends, and let's keep it that way, okay?_

He hadn't taken it as much at the time--of _course _he was Lily's friend, and would be forever--but now the thought of the paragraph made him furrow his brow. Did Lily return his feelings? Was she trying to ward him off? Did she love him too?

Did he really love her, or was it just something going on with very pretty friends he hadn't seen in seven years?

While James was the semi-hyperactive, attention-span-nil type, he actually had a huge amount of patience for important things. He was willing to let this spin out and see where it went. For now--he pulled the sheets over his head, the ridiculous grin back on his face. For now he was content to just be Lily's friend, and feel like more.

***

_Oh, God, I'd forgotten._

Lily's canopy was quite a bit different than James'. Her canopy was white linen, as opposed to the medieval décor in the rest of the rooms. However she, like James, was not focused on her drapes. She was thinking about something quite different.

_He's just like he used to be...sweet, funny, absolutely gorgeous...and totally irresistible. _She clenched her fists around her extra pillow. _Especially to fools like me who should know better. Know better than to fall in love with him all over again._

She turned on her side, curling herself into a tight ball. Glancing at her clock, she saw the time was two-thirty. She'd been trying to go to sleep for two hours, after taking time to correct her papers. (How had James done on those? He better not had screwed up, or she'd magic his pen to do something unpleasant in class.)

Lily hated nighttime. She always did the worst thinking at nighttime. The scariest, or the most morbidly philosophical, like _What happens to me when I die? When WILL I die? _Just the thing you want to fall asleep on. 

James fell into the category of the philosophical. Absentmindedly she hugged her extra pillow. She should be getting sleep. Think happy thoughts. Think about anything except James and falling asleep. Think about the reunion, where she'd see Bella and Sirius. Sirius and James. Okay, try thinking about the summer...

Eventually, Lily drifted off. Her last thought before she slept was that James didn't know any of this. He still thought of her as a friend--maybe she'd adjust to that.

***

James handed her the corrected essays over breakfast the next morning. "Here. Took me forever, thankyouverymuch."

Lily raised her eyebrows as she looked through the essays. She didn't know what she had been expecting, but James' corrections were at the top of the line--neat, precise, to the point. "Very good, Potter," she said, although her mouth was filled with pancake at the time so it came out as "Vuwwy goof, Putter."

"Whatever you say, Your Highness." James handed her another piece of paper. "The student's names, with all their grades."

Lily swallowed. "Thanks." She tucked the papers into her bag, still shaking her head. "I didn't know you were serious about _anything._"

"Oh, I'm just full of these little surprises."

"Right." She checked her watch and stood. "Ready?" James stuffed the last of his pancake into his mouth and followed her out, still chewing. "Why don't you finishyour food _before_ leaving the table?"

"Mff mf!"

"Uh-huh."

***

"So, your projects are due on the twenty-third, and I hope you've all been working hard. Exams soon thereafter. Any questions?"

"Why are pears green?"

The class giggled. Lily rolled her eyes. "I don't _know,_ Potter. If you're looking for the culinary class, that's down in the kitchens." She turned back to the board. "Anyway, if we could get back to class--"

"Seriously. I wanna know about pears." James leaned back in the desk and tickled his chin with his quill. "Do pears have souls?"

"God, James--"

"I mean, feelings?"

"Potter--"

"They _could _have feelings, one never knows! Maybe pears have a whole hidden society and religion!"

"Shut _up, _Potter."

"So in pear religion, is there an afterlife? Where's pear heaven?"

"I _believe_," Lily said, steaming, "it's right up your arse and to the left--d'you want me to come over there and stick your head in there for you?"

"I think it's physically impossible to do that."

As soon as James said that, he knew he was in trouble.

"Right," Lily said. She was totally calm. Bad sign.

She walked over to her desk, pulled out a slip of paper, scribbled on it, and walked over and gave it to James.

"D-detention?" James sputtered. "You're giving me_ detention_?"

"That's right."

"But I'm not in your _class--"_

"You're _sitting _in it, aren't you? I believe that qualifies as _being _in it. Now, could we please get back to the lesson?"

She couldn't be serious. He was an _adult; _there should be some rule against people over 19 getting detentions. James looked up.

Great. She was serious. He should have known.

***

He reported to Filch at nine, like the form said. Of course, he didn't need directions. He'd been through the detention process countless times before.

"Well, well, well," Filch remarked, with a nasty grin. "Potter. Fancy seeing you again." He got up from his desk and meandered over to his large Files, drawing out a drawer labeled _Still At Large._ He pulled out a paper and waved it in James' face.

"Nine PM, May twenty-first, 1978," he growled. "_Someone _graffitied _Filch Loves Trelawney _on the back of my shirt. Took me a week to get it out. I _know_ it was you, Potter."

Actually, it had been Sirius--but James wasn't going to tell him that. He sighed. "Just tell me what I have to do, Filch."

"Well." Filch, obviously miffed that James hadn't responded to his accusation, picked up a sheet of paper from his desk. He glanced at it and smiled slightly. "Follow me."

***

Four hours later, James stumbled into the faculty dorms, sticky, eyesore, and groggy. His hands hurt. His back hurt. He never wanted to see another pear again.

"You know," said a voice from the armchair in front of him, "I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's dessert."

Red hair followed by a smiling face poked up over the back of the chair. James stared stupidly at Lily. What was she doing here?

"Wasn't it convenient," she said, folding her arms over the chair, "that the dessert being prepared tonight is caramelized pears?"

Then it clicked. He pointed at her. "You, you set that up."

"Yes. I did."

"Four hours of pear slicing...that was harsh."

"Well," she said, standing up, "you screwed with my class. And for that, you paid." She turned and walked back to her room, with the air of an extremely smug cat. Revenge had been hers.

***

_Title change is still on cutting room floor of my mind. All that matters now is I POSTED THIS CHAPPIE!!_

_Best,_

_Lady Wildcat_


	6. Waterloo

**_Summary: _**_Sequel to "Time to Fly (Friends Forever)". Lily and James haven't seen each other for seven years. A school reunion rekindles their friendship, but how far will friendship go? _

**_Disclaimer: _**_Blah de blah, you know it's all J.K.'s, so why bother putting a stupid disclaimer?_

**_Author's Note: _**_Aaah. I am such a horrible author. I deserve to be beaten with wet noodles for not updating for so long. I'm AWFUL, aren't I? If you, my wonderful readers, do not forgive me, for punishment I must snog Legolas (which is something I DON'T want to do. I am not a Leggy fangirl, as I set my sights on MANLY men *cough*Aragorn*cough*). So please forgive me and alleviate me of the terrible punishment._

_To make up for the horrid dry chapter drought, I've put some L/J fluff hints in here, and you'll see why I am considering a title change to Waterloo. Happy reading._

**Seven Years**

Chapter Seven

By Lady Wildcat

**Dedicated to Peter Jackson, who did such a good job with TTT.**

Lily enjoyed carrying around a planner; it made her feel important even if she normally had next to nothing to put in the blank squares other than _Class, Write James _and, occasionally, _Faculty Meeting_. Right now she was feeling very important as she riffled through the black leather book. "Not sure if I can do it..."

"Come _on._" It was the morning of their third day together, and Lily and James were walking toward class. "You knew we'd have to work on this speech eventually. Why not today?"

"I'm kinda busy," said Lily, looking at today's block, which was totally devoid of any writing except for _Remember to have socks washed_.

"With what?"

God, he was pushy. "Well," she said, dodging the question, "I could squeeze it in at around...four?"

"After you get your socks washed, right?" asked James, reading over her shoulder.

"Nosy," she said, and shoved him away. "I have a very busy schedule, if you must know."

"Of course."

***

At four fifteen, there was a knock on the door of her room. "You're late, come in," Lily yelled.

James opened the door and whistled. "Wow. Nice room."

"Thanks."

"Kind of a contrast." He bounced over to the bed and fell onto it, sucking slowly on a lollipop attained from their trip to Honeydukes, the perfect image of his fifteen-year-old self. 

Lily shook her head. "Over here, James." She motioned from her small table in the center of the room. He flipped up from the bed and jumped over to the table in one big stride. "Why are you eating sugar?"

"Because it's _good!_"

Good Lord. He'd be hyperactive for the rest of the day. She rolled her eyes and concentrated on the blank parchment and quills in front of her. "Okay, what's our theme for this speech?" She headed one of the parchments _Speech._

"Uh..." He shrugged. "I thought we were just gonna do some stuff about my my, the years have flown by, and how glad we are to see each other, tell a couple jokes about Sirius, and then eat the cookies and punch they'll give us."

"James. This is our _seventh year reunion._"

"Yes...aaaand?"

"Ugh...you don't get it."

  
"Nooo, I don't."

"Would you like to hear what _I _think?"

"Sure."

She started scribbling on the parchment. "See, I was thinking the mood of our speech should be slightly nostalgic towards the past years, but hopeful and positive in the direction of our futures and our new selves." 

She finished writing and looked up at James. He was staring at the ceiling, licking his lollipop absentmindedly. She cleared her throat, and he snapped to attention. "Uh, oh, right...yes?"

"_James..._listen, if you don't want to do this seriously, I don't want to work with you. Excuse me, I've got better things to do." She gathered up her bad and got up from the table.

"Wait!" He grabbed her arm. "Look. I'm sorry. I'll try harder, promise. See?" James took the lollipop out of his mouth and tossed it into the wastebin. "No sugar."

She sighed. "Okay. But no more funny stuff with me."

"Right." He let go of her arm (part of her wished he hadn't, while the other part of her scolded that thought for even coming into being) and they sat down. "So...where do we begin?"

Half an hour, they sat back, satisfied with the first draft. Surprisingly, Lily had found that James was actually an excellent writer, and the speech was looking very good. "Now," she said slyly, tapping her chin with the quill.

"Hmm?" 

"Now...we need to work on...the _presentation._"

James paled. "Oh, no."

"Oh, yes." Lily got up, grabbed his wrist, and pulled him up next to her. "You said your public speaking skills leave something to be desired."

"I hate audiences. And I thought _you_ were gonna do the speech for us."

"Keep dreaming. This is a speech by the Head Girl _and_ Boy." She twirled him to face her. "I'm going to attempt to help you with your public speaking problem." She stuffed a piece of paper into James' hand, waved her wand about, and stepped back.

To James, it seemed as if he was suddenly on a stage in a large theater full of people. Lily was in the front row. "Uh, Lily--"

"This is just an illusion. Look at your paper."

He looked. On the paper was a passage from _Hamlet_. "What's this?"

"It's Hamlet's soliloquy, from Shakespeare's play _Hamlet._"

"Who's Shakespeare?"

Lily stared at him. "Oh my God--don't tell me you just asked that question. _Who's Shakespeare..._really, James."

"Sorry. Who is he?"

"Listen, I'll explain him later. What the passage is about is how Hamlet is contemplating whether to kill himself."

"Sounds cheery. Do I really have to read this?"

"Yes."

James looked up at the audience, down to his paper, and back at the audience. They were all _staring _at him, waiting for him to make a mistake...He hated public speaking.

"Um, okay." He cleared his throat nervously. "To...be, or not to, um, be, that is the question." _Get it over with, quick, so they won't stare anymore._ "Whether 'tis...noblerinthemindtosuffertheslings--"

"James, slow down."

"And arrows of..." He trailed off, and stared at the audience like a deer in the headlights. "Of..."

Lily sighed, and read off the list of speaking tips she'd prepared. "Visualize yourself succeeding."

"Huh?"

"Imagine that they will clap wildly when your speech is over. You'll be loved and adored by all of them, blah blah blah."

"All right..." James stared at the audience. "Lily, I can't visualize it."

"Well, try."

"I _am_ trying--Lily, _my vision is not clapping._"

She rolled her eyes. "You're impossible. Okay, try turning your nervousness into positive energy."

"Well, _how?_"

Fifteen minutes later, Lily had exhausted her entire list of tips, and she was getting incredibly fed up. "The audience _wants _you to succeed, James!"

"To sleep, perchance...to, to, dream: ay, there'stherub..." He shook his head. "They don't want me to succeed."

"You know what?" Lily had had it. "Maybe you should just try the old cliché. Think about the audience in their underwear, that should do it."

James looked out at the audience, then quickly to his feet. "Can't," he mumbled.

"Well, why _not?!?_"

"You're in the audience. It's too distracting."

Lily's mouth formed into a silent, embarrassed _o._ The room was quiet (except for a few fabricated sneezes from the imaginary audience) as James regained his dignity and Lily her voice.

She finally got it back. "Look...you've worked hard for today. Let's stop, we can continue tomorrow." She waved her wand.

He visibly relaxed when the audience disappeared. "Ah, back again."

"Yes...we'll try with you again later."

There was a short silence, and Lily was about to say something to the effect of _We should get going to dinner _when James jumped gleefully. "Oh, excellent! Your record player!" He leaped across the room towards the player.

Lily allowed herself a grudging grin. James had first been introduced to records when they had spent the summer at Lily's house between fifth and sixth year. Among other Muggle treats such as daytime talk shows, electricity, and videos, James had enjoyed her record collection the most.

"Oh, _wow, _they're all here!" he exclaimed now. "Look, all your Beatles ones--and the Rolling Stones--Oh, _yes, _ABBA!"

Lily groaned. "No, James, not ABBA..." James had developed a particularly weird affinity towards the band during his stay at Lily's, (although the Rolling Stones still remained his favorite). Lily, frankly, did not share his liking of ABBA. The record had been an old one of Petunia's that she had just taken to flesh out her collection.

But, Lily realized as James started to put the record into the player, she'd better get used to ABBA as long as he was staying here.

_My my, at Waterloo Napoleon did surrender_

_Oh yeah, and I have met my destiny in quite a similar way_

_The history book on the shelf_

Is always repeating itself 

"Waterlooooo," crooned James. "I was defeated, you won the war--c'mon, Lily, get in the spirit!"

"No, thank you," she replied tiredly, "I'll--"

Before she could finish, James had grabbed her waist. He started twirling her around the room, singing to the music.

Waterloo - Promise to love you for ever more 

_Waterloo - Couldn't escape if I wanted to_

Waterloo - Knowing my fate is to be with you Waterloo - Finally facing my Waterloo 

"JAAAAMES!!!" Lily cried. "PUT ME DOWN!!" She struggled to get out of his grip, punching his shoulder. "This could count as _sexual harassment, _you know!!"

He ignored her and continued to dance her around, singing to the music.

_My my, I tried to hold you back but you were stronger_

_Oh yeah, and now it seems my only hope is giving up the fight_

"And how could I ever refuuuuse, I feel like I win when I looooose!!!" He really did sing horribly, Lily thought. She didn't know how much longer she could stand this. 

_Waterloo - I was defeated, you won the war_

_Waterloo - Promise to love you for ever more_

_Waterloo - Couldn't escape if I wanted to_

"Waterlooooo - Knowing my fate is to be with you," sang James. "Waterlooo--"

Lily grabbed his moment of distraction to slip out of his hold and shut off the player. "_Enough _Swedish guitars for one day."

"Aw, _come on, _Lily!" He attempted to reach past her and turn the record back on, but she grabbed his arm just in time. He frowned down at her. "Party pooper."

"That's me." 

They stood like that, frozen. Lily suddenly realized how close they were standing, and that her hand was still on his arm. She looked up and saw an expression on James' face that she'd never seen before.

_He's going to kiss me, isn't he? _Her mind blanked, and all she could think of doing was closing her eyes and stretching her neck up, getting ready for his kiss.

"Uh...Lily? You okay?"

She opened one eye. The expression on James' face was gone, replaced by confusion. She opened the other eye and cleared her throat, embarrassed. "Um, yes, I'm fine."

"You sure? Your eyes kind of closed, and you started to lean into me, and I thought you fainted or something..."

_Oh, God, did I do that? _"Er, no, just got a little disoriented, that's all." She laughed nervously and stepped back, looking at her feet. "Now, I'm feeling kind of tired, so I think you should go. Now."

"Okay." He walked towards the door and paused. "Maybe you should see Madam Pomfrey or something--"

"No. I'm fine. Good-bye." She shut the door behind him, and with that, went to go bemoan over how much of a stupid idiot she was.

Oooh...so, did you like? Was it long enough? God, I'm a horrible author for not updating for so long. But maybe if you leave copious reviews, I'll update quicker...ah, I love blackmail. :) Anyhow, I'll start the next chapter very soon, and I'm working on Ch. 4 of Roxanne and ch. 3 of The Quill...just veerrry slooowwly, lol. Well, see y'all soon, hopefully!

Best, 

Lady Wildcat


	7. Flirting

**_Summary: _**_Sequel to "Time to Fly (Friends Forever)". Lily and James haven't seen each other for seven years. A school reunion rekindles their friendship, but how far will friendship go? _

**_Disclaimer: _**_Yes, everything's mine. I am also a chipmunk whose cousin is Billy Bob Thornton and lives in Bubblegum, Wyoming. (In case you can't tell, this is called sarcasm, children. This is a way of saying that nothing in this fic 'cept the plot is mine.)_

**_Author's Note: _**_Yup yup, another chappie! Up fairly quickly for me too. _

**Seven Years**

Chapter Seven

By Lady Wildcat

A week later, there were three new heads at the breakfast table when Lily and James entered the Great Hall. Lily wouldn't have recognized Remus, Sirius, and Peter had not Sirius taken the opportunity to jump out of his chair, run over to her, pick her up, and swing her around. "Lily-bedilly!" he exclaimed over the snickers of the students watching.

"Whoop!" She tried to be mad, but it didn't work. Sirius was every bit as lovably goofy as James. "Si, stoppit!"

Unlike James, however, he followed directions. She looked up at him after he put her down. He looked the same as ever: big, grinning, shaggy-haired Sirius. The back of her head noted that she was going to have a hell of a time keeping both Padfoot and Prongs in check. "Good to see you too."

He grinned even wider, then turned to James. "Been taking care of our Lily, Jamesie?"

"You know I always do."

"Ha," Lily said wearily as she turned to the other Marauders. "Here are two people, at least, who won't spin me around."

Remus hugged her gently. "Hello, Lily." Remus seemed to have aged more than his friends, and his dark brown eyes were full of tiredness that was hidden behind the delight at seeing her. She knew from James' letters that Remus had a hard time securing a job because of his affliction. (Lily had gotten the whole Animagi/werewolf story in 6th year; it is quite hard to watch one's boyfriend turn unexpectedly into a deer without demanding _some _type of explanation.)

"Holding up all right, Remus?" Lily didn't say how worried she'd been about him. Remus was the nicest person she knew, and often was the one that people came to for advice and to have a shoulder to cry on. Lily had taken over the responsibility in school of being _his _shoulder and advice-giver. 

"Fine, now that I've seen you." He gave her the old Remus grin. 

Lily patted his shoulder and turned to the other Marauder, grabbing him and giving him a noogie. "Harr, it's Petey! How are you, Pete?"

"Oww--owww--oww!" Peter, a small, slight blond man with a little bit of a leftover stutter, broke out of her hold and smiled. "Well, you haven't ch-changed, Lily!" _((A/N: Yes, we all hate Peter and wish he would just lay down and die…but he was their friend for a while.))_

Greetings over, Lily stepped back and surveyed them all. Surprisingly, she found herself getting a little teary, and turned her head to the side.

Unfortunately, it wasn't quick enough for Sirius not to see. "Aww," he cooed, "is Lily-willy getting nostalgic? Hmm? Did Lilykins miss her buddy Sirius?"

"_No, _you git," she said vehemently, wiping her eyes and hitting Sirius on the shoulder. "Why would I miss you?"

"'Cos I'm so special."

"Yes, you're very special, Sirius," she replied sarcastically. Then she looked at them all again and sighed happily. "It's just so _nice _to see the Marauders back in one piece!"

Remus came over to her left and put his arm around her shoulders. "It's nice to see _you _in one piece, Lily. With what I hear about the kids here these days…"

Lily rolled her eyes. "_Oh, _God…maybe you boys could stun them into silence for a while. They hero-worship you, you know. James made them shut up for almost a whole week…of course, he did use ceiling slime."

"Ooh, sounds like fun, Jamesie!" Sirius came up to her right and slung his arm across her shoulders, sandwiching her between her two friends. "Kids who worship you, ceiling slime…we missed all the fun!"

"Yes, but then she put me in detention."

Peter raised his eyebrows slightly. "D-detention? How old are you, James?" James hit him on the head in response.

The group meandered back to the breakfast table. As they were eating--with James vacuuming the food up as usual, Sirius going back for fifths, Peter putting _everything_ (including syrup) on his toast, Remus trying to get the rest of them to stop eating so much sugar--Lily forgot momentarily that she was a teacher, and thought she was back in 6th year again.

***

_This _time, Ms. Evans walked into the class with not only Mr. Potter, but with three other men as well. The students craned their necks curiously as the men filed into the room--in size order, almost as if they were too used to being together.

Nick caught James' eye as he ambled back to his usual seat in the far left corner of the room. "Mr. Potter, who are they?"

James grinned down at Nick. The younger prankster and his friends had gotten over their deer-in-the-headlights attitude about him after they realized that, albeit he was their idol, he was also normal person and very friendly. Though they still treated him like a demigod. (And Kellie's not-so-secret crush on him didn't help either. The only person who did not know of her affection for James was, curiously, James himself. Although James was rather thickheaded when it came to girls, Lily had reflected a few nights before. It was good that he had often missed admiring glances and sighs from fellow students, or else his good looks would have gotten to his head a lot more. This, she thought, might actually help Lily's current…_situation…_concerning her feelings for James.)

"You're about to find out," he replied. "I think Lily's going to introduce them."

And, at that moment, she did. "Alright," she said, tapping her desk with her wand, "settle down."

The whole room went quiet. Everyone was that curious about their visitors.

Lily blinked for a couple seconds in pure surprise, then shook her head and went on. "Well, I suppose you've all noticed that we have three guests here today. They're chums of mine and James' from our class. They're here for the reunion. I think they can introduce themselves."

"Err--Peter Pettigrew."

"Remus Lupin." 

"Sirius Black." Sirius gave a smile to the general room. Lily saw most of the female hearts in the class melt. Unlike James, Sirius knew damn well that he was one hot number. Three girls at the front of the room could barely contain their giggles--Lily saw the Sirius Black Fan Club obtain a Fourth-Years division. _((A/N: I'm in the Sirius Black Fan Club, New Jersey Muggles division…:P))_

However, not only the girls were impressed. Most of the class was staring worshipfully up at Lily's friends, either mentally going through their prank records or just remembering the crazy urban legends that had been flying around school about the four. Like it or not, but the Marauders were in the Hogwarts history books for good.

Lily glanced over at her friends. Pete was blushing a little and smiling a little too wide, Remus was looking uncomfortable being in the spotlight, and Sirius--Sirius was loving it. She suddenly remembered one important fact about Sirius that she had forgotten-_-_he flirts with_ everybody_. __

"Stoppit," she murmured to him. She said louder to the rest of the class, "Actually, Mr. Black is in a very unique line of work. He is an expert on Dark Arts curses and techniques. I was hoping today that he could tell us about his line of work." She elbowed him covertly so he'd get the point.

"Well, certainly, Lily." He, unfortunately, knew the game she was playing: make Sirius go off on a tangent about the work he loved so that he wouldn't wreak havoc with James at the back of the room. He knew, and he got her back for it. "May I say you're looking especially lovely today?" He picked up her hand and started kissing it vehemently.

"Ack, get off, you git!" Lily was blushing despite herself. Sirius just had that effect. "It's like getting licked by a dog!"

Unfortunately, the joke was pretty much lost, as only four other people in the room fully understood it. And only three of them were laughing.

***

"What'd I do?"

"_Nothing._ Stop bothering me, I'm thinking."

They were strolling down by the lake. Sirius had suggested it, as a way of revisiting old times "or whatnot". James, however, had been silent for the whole walk.

Sirius was quiet for a minute, then shoved James lightly. "Listen, James, I know you. You haven't been this silent with me since fourth year when I almost spilled to Lily about your crush on her. Now _what did I do this time?!_"

"Nothing, except _flirting _with _Lily _for the whole fucking class!"

Sirius literally stopped in his tracks. "What--whaa--Lily--am I missing something?"

"Yes. I think you missed the lesson not to flirt with the entire world."

"No, I mean…why are you being so touchy about her? Are you two back _together_?"

"No."

"Then what…" He exasperatedly ran his hands through his long, dark brown hair. "James, I wasn't purposely flirting. I just wanted to get her back for putting me in the spotlight."

"She seemed to be enjoying it."

"No, she wasn't. She hates it when I do that."

"She was blushing."

"I make a lot of people blush--for God's sake, James, I make your mother blush!"

He had a point. Luci adored Sirius. James was silent for a while, and Sirius knew he was partially forgiven.

He pried further. "James…what is going on between you and Lily?"

"Nothing. Nothing, nothing." His fists clenched.

"James."

"Well…" Sirius was going to keep at it doggedly (if the pun could be pardoned) until he got the whole story. "I don't know. You know I never really got over her when we were at school."

"Which is just another way of putting your miserably pathetic love life in seventh year?"

"You're not making this easier." James readjusted his glasses. "Well, I thought--for seven years--that the hard part was done with, and that my feelings for her were gone…"

He paused. Sirius listened without saying a word.

"But now," continued James, "see, when I'm around her again, I'm not so sure…at first I thought it was just a crush or something, or maybe, old leftover feelings from when I was dating her…except now I'm pretty sure it's the real thing."

Sirius whistled. "Wow. Are you positive?"

"Yes. But you see, now it will never work out, because I was such a stupid bastard for breaking up with her in the first place."

"You were…Leia Clark for Lily?"

"Shut your mouth, I know. She'll never forgive me."

"Well, what are you going to do?"

James shrugged. "I guess…I'll just…see where this takes me."

***

**_Author's Note: _**_Okayday, hoped you like this chapter, even if it was a bit lame, sorry…other fics being updated soon…_

_Best,_

_Lady Wildcat_


	8. Flashback

**_lSummary: _**_Sequel to "Time to Fly (Friends Forever)". Lily and James haven't seen each other for seven years. A school reunion rekindles their friendship, but how far will friendship go? _

**_Disclaimer: _**_I was recently told that disclaimers are just an excuse for fanfic writers to feel better that they're copying someone else's work. Well, here's my excuse: nothing's mine! _

**_Author's Note: _**_*nature program voice* And once again, the elusive Miri crawls out of her den to publish another chapter. This is a rare occasion, so please watch. *normal voice* Yergh. Again it has taken me a lifetime and a half to publish this chappie...the sad thing is it was sitting on my hard drive nearly completed for about a month. *bangs head on desk* And again, I'm horribly sorry. Forgive me._

_And this kinda goes without saying, but ever since OOTP came out, we learnt some stuff about James and Lily that kinda changed the whole aspect of their relationship...well, this fic is now drifting a little from the canon and trucking along the path I'd designated it before OOTP to become a semi-AU. Not changing any personalities of anyone/altering the plot 'cos of new canon, okeydoke? Enjoy._

**Seven Years**

Chapter Seven

By Lady Wildcat

The night of the reunion. Lily reckoned that everyone from their year was there. The Great Hall was filled with people, but Lily had her eyes only on one.

She went up to James and tapped him on the shoulder. "Shall we dance?" she asked, as the band struck up a new, slower song. Her heart was thudding wildly as she awaited his reaction.

He smiled nastily, something she had never seen on James' face before. "I don't think so, Lily."

"But why not?"

"You're not my girlfriend any more." Suddenly, Leia Clark appeared next to Lily. Gorgeous, thin, model material Leia. Oddly, she was in her Hogwarts uniform from seventh year, which was ridiculous as she had to be at least 24 now, but Lily didn't really notice. James continued maliciously.

"Leia's my girlfriend now, Lily. I never loved you anyway. Just get over me already." He took Leia's hand and led her to the dance floor.

"James?" Lily whispered. She watched the two dancing. Watched James kissing her. The mere sight of them together stung her more than his words had. She let a solitary tear run down her cheek. 

Sirius came up to her and patted her on the back. "What's wrong, Lilykins?"

"_Nothing,_" she whispered fiercely. "Go away."

Sirius shrugged. "All right." He returned to his date, a large buxom cucumber with lipstick on. Lily could only sit and cry.

Wait a minute. Was that a _cucumber--_

Lily blinked, and the dream shattered. Sirius and his vegetable date were nowhere to be seen. She was back in her bed in her room, listening to the clock strike three.

"Just a dream," she said quietly. "A normal, run-of-the-mill dream." She pushed her hand through her hair and tried to calm herself down.

_This is what happens, Lily Evans_, she mentally scolded herself, _when you sit up too late two nights before the reunion looking at the attendance list. Weird dreams come from lack of sleep._

However, Lily knew that it wasn't lack of sleep causing her bad dream. It was that name, so innocently situated between Richard Baker and Francis Coldwell--_Leia Clark. _Just seeing that on the attendance list had nearly made her jump out of her skin. Of _course _Leia would be there, she _was _part of Lily and James' class--but it was still a shock.

Lily's image of Leia had remained the same for seven years--cute, blonde, skinny with the perfect amount of curve, tall. Leia, with her perfect blue eyes and perfectly arranged clothing. The Hufflepuff colors of yellow and black had suited her immensely. Lily's hair was just the right shade of bright auburn to make it clash horribly with the scarlet and gold of Gryffindor.

Before the end of sixth year, Lily had thought Leia a nice enough girl. A little dense, but nice. That was, of course, before James had broken up with Lily for Leia. She was once again dragged into the memory that had remained with her since sixth year.

_"Lily," James said. He was twisting his hands nervously and wouldn't meet her eyes. "We need to talk."_

_"About what?" He'd been acting strange all week. She hoped it wasn't anything she'd done. "James, what's wrong?"_

_He finally raised his eyes to hers--those clear blue eyes that always made her knees shake every single time he looked at her. He regarded her with an emotion that she couldn't put a name to, but she could read some strange sort of sadness in his expression._

_She broke the silence. "James, what is it?" _

_ She laid her hand on his arm, and he jumped back as if he'd been burnt. He broke their eye contact, and, looking past her, said coldly, "Lily, I don't think we should see each other anymore."_

_Silence. Either that, or she'd gone temporarily deaf. But no; there was a slight roaring in her ears that was getting louder by the second. "What?"_

_"Just what I said, Lily. I'm breaking up with you. I've found someone new."_

_"But--" The roaring was louder now. "Why..."_

_"I--just don't think it was working out. It's over, accept it, Lily."_

_"James--"_

_He looked at her again, at her eyes filling up with tears, and his face softened. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "God, Lily, I'm--" He broke off and strode away, leaving her to cry alone._

How many times over the past eight years had she relived that? Lily absentmindedly played with the edge of her sheet. Way too many. She'd thought of that night over and over, trying to figure out what went wrong--what _she'd _done wrong.

James hadn't been right. Things _had_ been working out. The night he broke up with her was just about three days before the sixth-month mark of James asking her to the Christmas ball ("Let's go just as, um, you know, friends and all") and just over the five-month mark of him kissing her during a dance at the same ball. Their relationship hadn't fizzled at all—if anything, it had grown stronger with time.

Lily, at first, almost hadn't believed it. She'd almost believed, with a desperate sort of belief, that it was all a very large, insensitive prank. It was an idea her head had halfheartedly manufactured, as an explanation for the inexplicable. But she'd known the day after the breakup--the day Hogwarts let out for the summer--that it wasn't a joke; she knew when Sirius walked into their compartment on the train, gave James and Leia a cold glance, and put his arm around Lily. If it had been a prank, Sirius would have been in on it. She'd cried silently into his shoulder for the whole ride home.

A year later, she and James had spoken again--a real conversation, not like those strained ones they'd had when planning events as Head Boy and Girl. He'd asked her to forgive him, and, secretly relieved, she had. 

She'd forgiven, but not forgotten. She hadn't forgotten how it had felt to have her heart unexpectedly stomped on; to see James with Leia on the train the next day, regardless of the fact they broke up after two weeks and James didn't really date for the whole of seventh year; to want to reconcile with him for a whole year but afraid of being hurt again.

And Lily most certainly hadn't forgotten how James made her feel, because it was all coming back to her now in an overwhelming rush of _déjà vu. _Fifth and sixth year all over again--she was now painfully aware of James every time he touched her, found herself saying insanely stupid things in front of him, and was now frequently found daydreaming imagining what it'd feel like for him to kiss her again.

And, just like fifth and sixth year, as far as Lily knew James only saw her as a friend. Only worse now, because she'd had her chance with him, and it hadn't worked.

She needed an aspirin or something. This was too much for her to handle this late at night. She was beginning to get a headache.

***

Her previous night's dream was still in Lily's head when she was eating breakfast the next morning. She was so absorbed in staring at the butter melting on her toast and thinking mournfully of Leia that she didn't notice the person standing behind her until he waved his hand in front of her face.

"Liilyyy..." that all-too-familiar voice said. "Earth to Liill-yyy..."

"Eh?" She spun around and looked up at James. "Oh, it's only you." _Only you. Right. Am I such a pathetic idiot that I can't look at him without my heart rate going doubletime?_

He pulled out the chair next to her. "So," he said as he heaped scrambled eggs, bacon, ketchup, sausage, and three pieces of toast on his plate, "excited about the reunion?"

"Euhm..." She poked her grapefruit. "Um, yes. I guess." She thought for a moment. "Is there anyone _you're _particularly interested in, um, seeing again?" _Smooth way to introduce the topic, Lily._

James paused chewing, then resumed. "No."

"Don't talk with your mouth full," she responded automatically.

He swallowed, then grinned at her. "You're the only one I really wanted to see again, Lils."

"That's sweet, but are you sure?"__

"No one I can think of right now." James looked at her. "Why? Is there someone I should be remembering or something?"

_Only the perfect girl you left me for. _"No, no, I was just wondering." For the first time, Lily noticed the seats around her and James were empty. "James, where's Remus? And Peter?"

"With Sirius."

"...Well, where's Sirius?"

"In McGonagall's office."

Her eyebrows went up. "Why are they in there?"

He winced. "You don't want to know." At her inquiring expression, he continued. "Let's just say it involved a blowtorch and a large pile of carrots."

"Okay. You're right. I don't want to know." Lily shook her head. "Good old Sirius. I know we can count on him never changing."

***

**_Author's Note: _**_Another chapter...just a whole little tribute to our lovely Sirius. *big OOTP sigh* Heum. Anyhow, I'll be in camp for 2 weeks, but thinking about what to write for the next chapter, promise…next chapter starts the long-awaited reunion! Yay!_

_Best,_

_Lady Wildcat_


	9. Reunion, part 1

**_Summary: _**_Sequel to "Time to Fly (Friends Forever)". Lily and James haven't seen each other for seven years. A school reunion rekindles their friendship, but how far will friendship go? _

**_Disclaimer: _**_Oh, you know the drill. Nothing is mine. If you recognize it, it's JK's. I'm not claiming anything. Paul is the walrus. Et cetera._

**_Author's Note: _**_Wow. I'm not going to even attempt to make an excuse for my absence this time. Sheesh, it's been, like, nine months...I could have had a baby in that time. That could be my excuse. But it isn't, as I have not yet had a boyfriend, so that idea's out. I suppose I'm just hugely lazy. _

_This chapter was really horridly hard to write. It was like slugging through molasses. But I did almost finish, and then it kind of sat on my harddrive, waiting...so I remembered it smack dab in the middle of exams (lovely time) and rushed to get it up in between French and Bio studying. Am still in exam time, so this will probably stay untouched til the summer._

_Anyway._

_Here's something you all have been waiting rather patiently for: chapter nine._

**Seven Years**

Chapter Nine

By Lady Wildcat

"Stop blinking." Bella sat back in disgust. "Lil-y, it's all over your face!"

"Sorry! I hate this stuff." Lily surveyed the face of her best friend. "How'd you get yours so perfect?"

"I'm a restaurant hostess, I have to look good, I get practice. Only people who see you during your job are kids who don't care what you look like." Bella batted her perfectly mascaraed eyelashes and approached Lily again with the makeup wand. "Now, look up and don't move--!"

They were sitting on Lily's bed one hour before the reunion with an array of makeup products spread around them--most of them new purchases of Bella's. Lily, a hopeless case at any makeup more advanced than chapstick, needed all the help she could get.

"That's better." Bella put away the mascara and reached for the eye shadow. "Good thing I live right down in Hogsmeade and I can help you with these things. Close your eyes."

The door to her room burst open and Lily's other longtime friends, Chris and Laura, burst in. Laura was already perfectly coiffed and dressed in daringly cut red robes. Chris, on the other hand, was not dressed and looked ready to explode.

"Lily and Bella," she announced through clenched teeth, "Laura's trying to make me wear this. She held up something that looked like baby pink robes. Bits of lace and the occasional sequin were visible.

Bella glanced over. "So? It's nice. Open, Lily, and pucker up."

_Nice_," Chris growled. "Fuckin' _nice?_"

"Really, Chris, you need some colour to your dress robes." Laura tugged at the corner of the pink robe. "Black isn't the only option."

"But why does it have to be _this_ colour? Honestly, Laura, where did you buy this?"

"Shop next to Bella's restaurant. The colour will suit you, trust me."

"I don't care if--"

"Could we possibly stop arguing for one second," Bella said, putting down the lipstick, "and admire my handiwork?"

The other girls, as commanded, looked towards Lily as she got up off of the bed and stretched. She was wearing dark green, shimmery robes with a neckline not low enough to be called daring and flared sleeves. Bella had let her hair do what it did bestÑcurl down in large reddy-orange waves to the middle of her back.

"Nice job, Bella," Chris said. "Should be good enough f'r James, eh?"

"Chris!" Lily blushed furiously. "It should be Erin saying those things!" The girls' other friend Erin couldn't make it to the reunion with family business, and Lily was missing her acidic comments. It seemed like Chris had taken over, though.

"Oh, please, Lily, don't tell me you're getting all fancied up just for a bunch of old classmates," Laura said, swinging her long brown hair behind her back.

"As if it's not obvious anyway." Bella said matter-of-factly as she began to gather the makeup back into her bag. "Since he's been here, it's just been James, James, James."

Lily shrugged, a little nervously, and went to the floor-length mirror to adjust her outfit. "We were close. I haven't seen him for seven years--you know what it's like."

Her slightly deflated explanation seemed to satisfy Laura and Chris, who went back to bickering about the pink robes, but in the corner of the mirror Lily saw Bella raise one dark eyebrow and purse her lips together.

No fooling her best girlfriend.

And there was no fooling herself either, Lily thought as she patted her hair for what seemed the hundredth time that evening. She knew she wanted to look especially good for tonight. She knew that, had James not been present in her daily life for the past two weeks, she would have been perfectly content with her older, plainer dress robes and some poorly applied lipstick. Instead, she had spent the entire day before the reunion searching for the perfect new dress robes and had enlisted Bella's help to make her makeup immaculate.

Pathetic, really. All this fuss over someone who was simply a friend. Lily knew that was all it could ever amount to, considering their failed history.

_But a girl can hope, _said a small part of her mind. She could certainly hope that maybe--just maybe--James would change his mind about her tonight.

-------

"Okay, speech notes?"

"Check."

"Flowers?"

"Check."

"Fellow speaker?"

"No check yet, but should be soon."

"Nausea medication?"

"_Sirius."_

"Right, right. Stop worrying, James, you'll be fine. Have some more punch."

James held out his glass distractedly for Sirius to refill. They were standing in the Great Hall, watching their classmates slowly filter into the room. The reunion party was just starting, and most people, like all people who arrive at the start of a party, were milling around the walls and refreshment tables making polite conversation. Most of them had arrived the day before, spending the night in Hogwarts' guest quarters. James hadn't had a chance to speak to any of them as most of his time the day before had been taken up between helping Lily grade exams and getting Sirius out of various tight spots.

He didn't really want to interact anyway, he thought as he absentmindedly sipped his punch. They'd just banter politely about how different their lives were and how it's so nice to see everyone again, with a couple _oh-hi-how-are-you-well-don't-you-look-marvelous!_s thrown in. And James didn't specifically care for any of the people who were out there now. All the people he really loved had arrived earlier.

Besides, he was nervous as hell. When Lily appeared, he would only have a few minutes to grab some shreds of composure before they went onstage to kick the starting banquet off with their speech, the notes for which he had crumpled sweatily into his robes pocket.

Speaking of Lily...

"She's not here yet," he grumbled lowly to Sirius. Behind him the band finished setting up, and the drummer began to play a few experimental beats.

"Ah, she's a girl," Sirius replied distantly. "They take a while to get ready--you know." He waved his hand vaguely around his face in indication of makeup.

"Lily never wears makeup. And she never takes this long, it's ridiculous." James started towards the door.

"Wait, where are you going?" Sirius called, trotting after him.

"To get her. We need to get this speech over with before my nerves kill me."

They ran into Bella right at the bottom of the short staircase going to the faculty dorms. "Bella, is she coming?"

"Oh, good, you're here," Bella beamed. "Yes, she's right behind me. You can see my handiwork."

"Handiwork--" James began, but stopped short as Lily appeared at the top of the stairs.

She looked...good. Really very good. And yet somehow different, not the usual Lily. James' mind was trying to figure out what had changed, but most of it was preoccupied with thinking about how really gorgeous she looked.

She looked so good that it took him a minute to realize he was staring and check himself. He averted his eyes quickly to his shoes, missing both Lily's flaming blush and Bella and Sirius' raised eyebrows.

The hem of her robes appeared in his vision, and he glanced up to see her standing next to him. He noticed that her eyes were outlined in something. _Makeup, _he thought distantly. _Bella put makeup on her. _He didn't think that he'd ever seen Lily in full-blown makeup, in the fourteen-odd years he'd known her. Her natural looks had always been enough for him, and this was just...

"Well," he said, recovering enough to give her a smile and his arm, "shall we get this over with?"

-------

"All right, what did you do?" Sirius muttered to Bella.

"I have no idea," she stated innocently, "what you are talking about."

"Oh, come now," he responded jovially, nodding over to where Lily and James were doing last-minute revisions on their speech. "He can't take his eyes off of her. You did something, Arabella."

She gave a little half-sigh. "I merely went shopping down the street. I picked up some makeup products from Bette's Bewitching Beauty Boutique."

"Ah, makeup." Sirius looked at Lily. "I certainly have never seen her looking like this. Well, you got your money's worth."

"And only fourteen Sickles total."

"Quite a bargain, what with the end result," said a voice behind them. Sirius and Bella turned to see a smug-looking Chris in plain black robes with a sulky Laura next to her.

"I can see who won the robes argument," Bella remarked.

"Turned her hair into a bush," Chris said happily. "She let me go then."

"The pink _would_ have suited you," Laura said sullenly. "And you didn't turn my hair quite back."

"Oh, it looks nice..." Bella said. "Well, except for that twig. Laura shot a venomous look at Chris as Bella picked bits of bracken out of her hair.

Chris pretended not to notice, and focused instead on the thought running through all of their heads. "Why are they both so _thickheaded_?" she scoffed softly, looking over to where James and Lily were standing. "They're both head over heels for each other. I wish they'd just snog and make up and spare us the angst."

"'Snot that easy," Laura remarked gloomily. "They've tried already, remember?"

"It's harder for Lily, as well, because she..." Bella stopped herself, remembering that James' best friend was standing next to her.

Fortunately, he had the same opinion on the subject as she did. "It's harder for Lily because she got her heart torn out and stomped on by my temporarily assheaded friend," Sirius said bluntly, finishing Bella's sentence.

"Well...yes."

"Who's assheaded?" Remus, followed by Peter, appeared at Sirius' shoulder, dressed in his slightly worn dress robes.

"James. Was. At the end of sixth year."

"Ah yes," Remus said. "Well, he's blind as a bat now if he can't see that Lily feels the same way about him as he does about her."

"Actually, b-bats aren't blind," Peter remarked. "That's a c-common misconc-ception."

"Stuff it, Pete, you're ruining my analogy."

"S-sorry."

"Zip it," Laura hissed, "they're going onstage."

-------

Backstage, James almost had a heart attack when he heard the voices--so many!--in the audience and saw the lights.

He took a big gulp, smiled nervously at Lily, and strode onstage.

-------

**_Author's Note:_**_AGH. MADE IT. That was so freakin' hard to write. Jesus Christ on a cracker, I'm tired._

_Anyhoo, I am trying to decide if I should include another vaguely cheesy song insertion for the reunion (the insertion's cheesy, not the song, the song is quite good). It's a Beatles song, and I don't want to desecrate it...tell me if that's A-OK or nay-OK._

_See y'all {hopefully} soon!_

_Best,_

_Lady Wildcat_


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